Source: The Zimbabwean
Zimbabwe’s new constitution will provide for a Gender and Equality Commission aimed at dealing with women’s rights, a deputy minister has said. In an interview with The Zimbabwean, Women’s Affairs deputy Minister Jessie Majome said this would protect vulnerable groups.

“It will have investigative and quasi-judicial functions in the same way as the Human Rights Commission has,” she said.

The deputy minister said the gender commission was an international requirement since Zimbabwe was signatory to the Southern African Development Community protocol among other conventions.

The country had also committed itself to meeting the 2015 targets on gender and the millennium development goals.

Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe chairperson, Virginia Muwanigwa,described the commission as a welcome development which should work as an advisory body to the government to make sure gender issues were addressed.

“We should copy from the South African Gender Commission and see if there are any parallels and positives we can draw from it for our benefit,” said Muwanigwa.

The functions of the South African commission include monitoring all organs of society to ensure that gender equality is safeguarded and promoted as well as to assess all legislation from a gender perspective.

• Zimbabwe